Romo, Cowboys great disagree about team’s mental toughness

Published 10:27 pm, Thursday, December 29, 2011

QB Tony Romo says the Cowboys have shown plenty of toughness in some road wins this season.

QB Tony Romo says the Cowboys have shown plenty of toughness in some road wins this season.

Photo: AP

Romo, Cowboys great disagree about team’s mental toughness

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Tony Romo and NFL rushing king Emmitt Smith are at odds over whether the Dallas Cowboys have the mental toughness to beat the New York Giants in Sunday night's win-or-go-home game.

Smith suggested his former team lacks the fortitude needed to go to MetLife Stadium and capture the NFC East crown by beating a team it fell to 37-34 three weeks ago.

"Talent-wise, they have it," Smith told ESPN. "Leadership-wise, they have some good leaders. Do they have enough? Probably not. Can they go up to New York and be mentally tough in this situation? Jason (Garrett) has done a very good job of preparing the guys to be physically and hopefully mentally tough, but mental toughness is the one thing needed in games like this.

"Mental toughness for four quarters or five quarters, if you have to go that far ... That's something our Cowboys have not been able to do in close games. And that's where mental toughness comes into play."

In his weekly media session at Valley Ranch, Romo said proof of the Cowboys' backbone could be found in road wins at San Francisco Sept. 18 and at Washington Nov. 20.

Dallas came from behind to win both games in overtime. Against the 49ers, Romo returned from a fractured rib and a punctured lung to engineer a rally from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit.

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Had the Cowboys lost, they would have fell into an 0-2 hole after blowing a 14-point fourth-quarter cushion in a season-opening loss at the New York Jets. Romo was outstanding in the fourth quarter and OT against the 49ers, going 12 of 15 for 201 yards and a touchdown.

"It felt like a must-win at the time," Romo said of the win over San Francisco, which turned out to be one of the league's top teams. "We went out there and laid it on the line and the team won and we were trailing late in that game. So there was a lot of mental toughness in that game."

Smith pointed out the Cowboys (8-7) squandered fourth-quarter leads in five of their seven losses, including blowing a 12-point cushion in the first meeting with the Giants. Romo countered by saying Dallas showed grit in bouncing back from several tough losses.

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"This team just has a way of keep coming back and keep grinding," Romo said.

Wearing a wrap on his swollen right hand, Romo was limited in practice a second straight day. He still hasn't taken a snap from under center.

"We're still in the process of doing some things like that," he said.

Still, Romo is confident he will play.

"Everything is coming together like we thought," said Romo, who injured his hand in last week's 20-7 loss to Philadelphia. "Each day is getting a little better."

Romo downplayed fears the Giants would target his hand.

"I mean, every game the defensive line or whoever is going to try to hit the quarterback," Romo said.

Romo needed pain-killing injections to play through his rib injury, which he believes was more troublesome than his hand injury.

"Stuff just comes up throughout the season," Romo said. "It's just a normal part of playing football. No one cares, and once you get out there, it's about winning and losing. So that's all it's going to be about (Sunday)."